Morphology of the cross section of silica layer in rice husk

The physical adsorption of nitrogen and gas flow experiments on the silica layer in rice husk indicated that an existence of nano meter sized through holes. In this study, the external shape of the holes on the cross section of the layer was investigated with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer, an atomic force microscope and scanning tunneling microscope. In the energy dispersive mapping image, 2-5 micron thick silica layer under outer cellulose layer, silica nano particles in the middle cellulose layer and sub micron silica layer in inner cellulose layer were observed. The cross section of the layer showed 20 nm building units with approximately 100 nm convexities. The atomic force microscopic image also showed the approximately 100 nm convexities as well as a roughness of approximately 20 nm. When osmium was coated on the silica layer, the wells with 2 approximately 5 nm horizontal and approximately 2 nm vertical lengths were observed on the plate surface in scanning tunneling microscopic image. From the results, it was suggested that the holes in the rice husk silica layer are almost straight and not zigzag spaces originated from the simple packing of nano particles.